Qualcomm Makes Equity Investment into Sharp.

Qualcomm on Tuesday announced the expansion of its display technology agreement between its subsidiary Pixtronix and Sharp Corp. to develop and commercialize high-quality color, low-power MEMS displays incorporating IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide) technology and built utilizing existing LCD manufacturing infrastructure, and Qualcomm’s equity investment in Sharp Corp. Qualcomm will become a minority shareholder in Sharp.

“Expanding our existing relationship with Sharp to jointly commercialize new MEMS display technologies will help both companies realize their shared goal of driving high performance, lower power displays for a variety of devices, including smartphones and tablets,” said Derek Aberle, executive vice president and group president of Qualcomm.

Qualcomm’s equity investment in Sharp and the expanded joint development agreement build upon the existing work between Sharp and Pixtronix as the two companies have been engaged in development activities for the last year and a half. The goal of this joint effort is to accelerate commercialization of Pixtronix’s low power MEMS displays utilizing Sharp’s IGZO technology.

The equity investment by Qualcomm will take place in stages and the consummation of the transaction is subject to certain contingencies.

“Sharp has brought many innovations to the display industry, including the world’s first commercialization of IGZO technology in LCD displays this year. Sharp is targeting to accelerate the commercialization of MEMS displays by combining Sharp’s cutting-edge IGZO technology and Pixtronix’s MEMS display technology,” said Yoshisuke Hasegawa, executive managing officer of Sharp.